Traitors of the Black Crown looked very appealing to me—sapphic romance, secret identities, a new world to discover!—which might be why it fell short, and I'm sad to say I didn't like it.

This story isn't too original, we've seen a lot of similar things in other books, but I think that's a genre problem more than an issue specific to this novel. In general, Traitors of the Black Crown lacked unity. Perhaps one reason for this is that it tried to do too many things in one book. The plot elements could've been divided into two separate novels, maybe more. The worldbuilding was complex and interesting, but not solid enough. I kept being confused at the history of the kingdom, and I'm still not sure about certain bits. It didn't help that the spatial and geographical references were rather vague.

I liked the characters, even though I wasn't as invested in Raena as I would've wanted. Aven I enjoyed. I wish we had seen more of Finn. Queen Zarana was confusing, and having her entirely taking over the narration at the end felt too abrupt for me. Zander was the only character I deeply disliked though, he seemed caricaturised and too over-the-top cruel without giving any reason for his being so.

The bit I enjoyed the most was precisely the one where not much was going on in terms of advancing the story: when Raena arrives in House Colby and settles there. The romance storyline was also very sweet and engaging. I believe there's good material here, but it didn't work for me as a whole.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hansen House for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

had a difficult time to get into the character's voice, though the premise is exciting so I probably will give it a try another time

Thank you to NetGalley,
Hansen House Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles and @Cate_Pearce for this Free ARC digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

🧡Traitors of the Black Crown, Book 1 in the Black Crown series, is everything yourLGBTQIA, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Romance lovin’ heart needs. 🖤 This book is scheduled to release September 22, 2021 and I will be ordering my copy ASAP

💛Sir Rowan is the tall, strong, fair Knight we all dream about. For 15 years Raena Schinen has disguised herself as Sir Rowan to hide from Queen Zanara and avoid certain death. Exiled and facing war, Raena meets Duchess Avenna Colby. These three women will face secrets, love and the terror rising from beneath their feet.

💚This is a well written book with relatable queer characters. The imagery in the fight scenes, the romance and that cliffhanger ending left me wanting answers. The first book hasn’t been released and I’m ready for book two!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc. This was such a fun and easy read! The characters were enjoyable and the pacing was just right. This story concludes perfectly in order to set up for the next installment and I am very much looking for to it.

I am obsessed with this concept, but the book itself fell a little bit flat for me. I can see the points where it would appeal to other people and even have the possibility of being someone's book, it just wasn't a good match this time.

DNF at 10%
I was really excited to see this one, but as I read, it just didn’t turn out to be for me. I love the premise (queer knights and political intrigue? Yes??), but I just didn’t end up getting pulled in by the opening in the way that I’d hoped—glad to see it getting so much praise from others!

This book was so good! The history is really interesting, and the world building was amazing! The plot is intriguing and I love the mix of fighting, action, politics and slow-paced romance. The fighting scenes were amazing and so well written. Overall, the pacing is good, it was a little slow at times but I didn’t mind.

What made me really love this book is the female characters! Raena and Aven are beautifully written and I fell in love with them right away! And the f/f romance was amazing, I love the way their relationship was written and developed!

And the ending. It was a little rushed (maybe a little overwhelming), and I wish we’d seen it from the others POVs too, but it was a great lead up for the next book! I will definitely be reading the next book!! I loved it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hansen House for the sending me a e-book!

This book was a very easy read with a good pace. I liked how they never really brought sexuality into play, but instead it was just a person falling in love with a person. I usually prefer very loud and proud queer representation, but this just kind of...fit.

I would have liked to see a little more between Raena and Allyn given their brief tiff, although I expect that will be explored in the future, which brings me to my final point.

I very much did not like how sharp of a cliffhanger the ending was. A clean cut that lets the novel be a contained story with room for a sequel would have been preferred.

I really enjoyed reading this book I liked the mix of fantasy with feminism, humour and seriousness.
The characters were interesting and we'll written. The story wasn't a heavy read as it didn't catch itself out or repeat itself which was a refreshing change for this style of book, overall I enjoyed it and would read more of this author's works in the future.

I enjoyed the writing style of this book and the dynamic of Rae and Aven. It was fast-paced and really kept me on the edge of my seat. If I had one note it would be to give Zander's character an explanation as to why he was so cruel, (such as his upbringing, role models, etc.) because I feel that his character is slightly underdeveloped. Other than that I thought all of the other characters were really well developed and the information left floating through the book tied really nicely together at the end.

Overall, this book is a solid 3.5 for me. It has an intriguing plot, engaging characters, and quite a bit of action.

Raena Schinen has been in hiding and pretending to be a man for fifteen years, ever since Queen Zarana ordered the brutal execution of her entire family. Raena has spent the past fifteen years training to be a knight, becoming proficient in swordplay and archery, all in the hopes that she will one day get revenge for her family. An unimaginable twist results in Raena being sent exiled from her kingdom as the personal knight to Avenna, the ruling duchess of another country. What follows is an explosion of secrets and romance.

The characters are for the most part rather likeable. The book is told mostly through Raena and Avenna's point of view, and they both have very distinct voices. Raena and Avenna are really well developed, each with their own moral code, motivations, and relevant tragic backstory. I really enjoyed seeing the relationship between the two women develop. I was so happy it wasn't an instant love situation, rather, they got to know one another, spent time together, and eventually became overwhelmed by desire and affection. The two of them were so sweet and perfect with one another, so the romance really delivered.

The plot was intriguing and engaging. A lot of political maneuvering happened throughout the book, but the author gave great backstory and worldbuilding along the way, so that there wasn't really any confusion or info dumping. The pace was good overall, it got a little slow toward the middle and some of the end, and some events felt a little rushed and some issues too easily resolved.

The action did not disappoint. This book had some of the best fight scenes I've read, they weren't too dense, but detailed enough that I understood what was going on. I often feel lost during fight scenes and have trouble imagining them, but I really felt like I was in the thick of it.

A lot happened at once in the ending, which felt a little overwhelming, but still intriguing enough that I will most definitely be wanting to read the second book. I wasn't a big fan of how the ending was told through Queen Zarana's point of view, I would have rather had Raena's or Avenna's, but nonetheless, it was still rather shocking and a great lead up to the second book.

Loved this book and can't wait for the second one! It has intrigue, love and real characters who are not all only good or bad but human. The world building is great and I cannot wait for more information on Ediva and the Boens.
The main romance between Sir Rowan, the daughter of a man executed for treason against the crown and duchess Aven is sweet but not the main focus of this story. It adds an extra layer and I suspect some extra possibilities plotwise later on since the writer is hinting that Aven is also not all that she appears to be.

The only real critical note I have to leave is that the ending felt rushed. Everything was unfolded rather slowly and then all of a sudden all people come together for the final scenes. Yet I still flew through this story and had blast reading this.

***An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review ***

Raenna has to pretend she’s a knight to not get killed, but when she is exiled out of Candor and has to serve Dutchess Avenna, a romance starts to bloom.

I have so many mixed feelings about this book. Overall I’m pretty disappointed, a sapphic romance mixed with fantasy, it sounded like an absolute dream come true. But sadly I was let down.

Plot/Pacing: 4/10
The plot left a lot to be desired. The pacing also felt very off. I felt like the writer wanted to do way too much in this book. Which led to many of the subplots not being well developed. Also, I found that the pov of Zarana was pretty unnecessary and the only purpose was to fill any plot holes. I wanted to read more about the romance between Raenna and Aven, but sadly I felt like the writer just glossed over a lot. I also could see most of the plot twists coming, there was so much foreshadowing happening in the book, that the plot twists felt predictable, which was such a bummer.

Characters: 7/10
I felt like almost all of the characters were likeable, almost too likeable. It was very hard to find any real flaws, except for maybe insecurity, but that’s a flaw you tell about yourself at a job interview and doesn’t really count. I wanted the characters to be more developed, and although this is only the first book in the series, I still felt like I didn’t know the characters at all.

Writing: 8/10
The writing was good, except maybe the pacing, but I already discussed that. My only problem was the excessive use of accents, which sometimes made it hard to know what the characters were saying.

My experience reading this book: 4/10
I had moments where I absolutely loved the book, but those moments were very short lived and really just made me realise that the book was not good enough. I really hope that the sequel will be better, but I don’t think I will be reading it, as it is just not interesting enough for me. I personally wouldn’t recommend this book, but I also certainly wouldn’t stop you.

The history in this story is quite heavy but I understand its needed for world building and I really enjoyed the theme of women leading.
Not my usual choice in reading.
Overall I really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to the second book

I honestly was worried about whether of not this book would hit the spot for me and I have mixed feelings! It certainly was unique enough with a well thought out plot. However I feel like things were a little disorganized and could’ve used a little more structure!

I have only one complaint for this book, because it's that good, and it's so insignificant that I'll leave it at the end of my review. First of all, a woman posing as a man to get her vengeance was enough to get me to read this. I loved Raena as a main character which doesn't happen that often too me beacuse I always find a side character more interesting, and while Aven was a close second favourite, Raena stole my heart. I actually loved most of the characters, and even the "evil" queen was intriguing to me. The plot was pretty engaging and I thought the action scenes were evenly placed during the length of the book. There were some reveals which weren't extremely surprising but because they were just hinted at and then the plot would quickly divert my attention form them, they actually worked really well.
When it comes to relationships between characters, I love most of them, but the one between Finn and Raena is I think my second favourite. The playfulness between them really warmed my heart, but also the fact that Finn didn't act any different towards Raena just because she wasn't really a man.
Now my favourite relationship was obviously between Raena and Aven, and not just because they were the sapphics. There are a few reasons why I really loved them as a couple. The fact that they got together in the first part of the book, which doesn't happen that often in wlw books. Though it seems relatively quick, enough time has actaully passed in the world of the book for the relationship to not seem rushed. The thing I loved most about their relationship was how sexy and flirty it was, and I'm not talking about the sex scenes because those were not explicit at all, but they were allowed to be sexual which a lot of authors writing sapphic books avoid, probably because of fetishization.
The one thing i didn't like was the mentions of previous wars, because they were mentioned in a way that confused me a lot, and it didn't seem that interesting to me so that I would try harder to piece the information together.
Overall, this book was a 4.75 for me.

F/F romance in a fantasy setting—I had great expectations from this book, and certainly didn't expect a DNF. However, the meandering plot and somewhat contrived nature of the relationship between the two women made it lose its lustre. I might pick this up at a later date, who knows.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Raena Schinen has been living disguised as Sir Rowan for the last decade. She spent all these years training and hiding from the crown with one goal in mind: getting revenge. Reana wants to kill the queen and the prince to avenge her own family who was slaughtered on the order of the queen. However, Raena's plans get disrupted when she is punished and sent into the service of Duchess Avenna Colby, far away from the capital.

The plot is simple but still intriguing. It gives a mix of politics, history, and action while entwining a romance within it all. The world-building and history are interesting and well presented. The author does a great job of providing us with background information without relying on info-dumping.
The burgeoning romance between two protagonists is truly lovely to witness and it's great to see LGBTQIA representation and written so well at that. There was something so soft and heartfelt about this slow-burn romance and I can't convey enough how enjoyable it was to read.

The multiple POVS added to the book perfectly and tied very well with the plot.

This book was amazing, I can’t wait for the next one!

Love the representation and the trope. Not really typically into fantasy medieval types but this was actually good! Hoping there is a part two to this series. The author is one that I have to keep my eyes out for.

If you are looking for a F/F romance, strong and very well developed characters and a rich plot, you don’t need to search any longer.

Traitors of the Black Crown is an extremely interesting and very well constructed book with wonderfully well developed characters. Our mcs are very lovable and relatable and I loved how every character was very well built and their flaws were not hidden.
Even the bad characters, the ones you are supposed to not like, are very well written and developed.

My favourite things about this book is certainly the women characters and how they fight to break boundaries set by their patriarchal society. The women in this novel are powerful and they are not scared of showing it.
As well, I loved the fighting scenes and how exquisitely they were written. They kept me on the edge of my seat, fully immersed in this epic book.

I really liked the pace of this book too, it was not too slow and not too fast. As well, world building was good and constant and I loved every part of it.
I loved every twist and every secret, the author really did amazing in keeping us always entertained.
The multiple POVS added to the book perfectly and tied very well with the plot. I really like when there is more than one POV in the books I read. I loved to see how different characters reacted to certain things and get their own perspective.

Traitors of the Black Crown is an epic, wonderful and rich read and you will not regret picking this up. Raena and Aven are so strong and so beautifully written and developed, you will love them straight away. Plus, the F/F romance is sweet and exciting, everything about it is just perfect.
This book was amazing, I can’t wait for the next one.
4.5*